....So what are you giving back to him?

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

1 Chronicles 29:14

In my blog last week, I focused on the fact that everything belongs to God, nothing you own is truly yours but a blessing from God. So here’s a challenge: what are you giving back to him?

Being a student is financially challenging, but is also an amazing time to learn how to give. As a student every penny is precious and because of that we also know the importance of budgeting. How often are you willing to sacrifice one thing in order to do another? For example, do you spend less on a weekly shop in order to go on a night out? And therefore, how much more are you willing to sacrifice to the God who has given you everything?

As students we justify our lack of money as a reason not to give, when in actual fact we just don’t want to give. The first step towards changing our attitude to money is to recognise this; once we have acknowledged this, we can ask God to change our hearts.

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’"

Mark 12:41-44

In the passage above, Jesus makes it quite clear, he’s not concern about the amount that we give, but the hearts that give it. The widow trusted that God was ‘El Shaddai’ The All Sufficient One. She trusted that if she gave God everything she had, he would provide for her, so she gave everything. This trust probably came from years of giving and being provided for; it probably didn’t spring up overnight, and yet we often put giving off until we have developed that trust. This trust will only develop if we put our faith in God into action. 

So here's is my advice: start small, but start somewhere. Work out what you can give and what you’re willing to sacrifice, it might mean bringing a pack-up and a thermos flask to campus rather than buying lunch, or fewer take-aways and nights out, giving up your spotify subscription and listening to the music you already own. But start somewhere and most importantly ask God to change your heart towards giving.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Everything belongs to God...

You are rich

So often as a student I saw myself as poor, having to carefully consider what I could do due to their financial cost. I forgot that actually I am rich. You’re probably reading this off your laptop or smart phone, or maybe even a tablet. All signs of our wealth that we ignore. We have food in our cupboards (even if its the basic range) and clothes to wear, we are able to go out and socialise with friends. Yes, we have to budget, yes we have to turn down opportunities, but no, we are not poor.

Whilst as students we don’t really earn a salary, most of you will either have a student loan or receive money from your parents and I’m suggesting that you start to think of that as your income. It is a gift from God.

If you receive a student loan of £3500, you are in the top 25.09% richest people in the world. That means that 74.91% of the global population are financially poorer place than you. So stop comparing yourself against those who are richer than you, and start seeing what God has blessed you with, start being grateful that you have money to budget, rather than ungrateful because you have to budget.

God has blessed you with so much, and yet how often do we say “Is that all?” Everything you have belongs to God, it is a blessing from him, but when was the last time you gave anything back to him?

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

1 Chronicles 29:14

The verse from 1 Chronicles comes after David calls upon the Israelites to give gifts to God to build the temple, and I love that David recognises the dependency of the Israelites on God for wealth and material goods. Over the next week I would like to challenge you to also ask God for this outlook upon your material wealth, remember that everything comes from God, and that he has richly blessed you. Rather than watching the bank balance decrease, focus on thanking God as you spend your money.

Also, if you have the time, work out your income (including maintenance loans/grants) and check out this website to compare yourself against the rest of the globe.

This is the first in a two part series, if you want to be challenged further read ....so what are you giving back to Him?

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Thoughts on Jonah

Last week whilst I was sat in the service, a thought pop into my head. There is a fairly impressive miracle in this book which isn't really mentioned. Jonah gets swallowed by a huge fish, and survives for three days in a stomach of a whale.

How did he survive the stomach acid or more importantly the lack of oxygen for three days?

In Matthew 12:40, Jesus says:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

As Jesus clearly believes that Jonah was:

• Swallowed by a huge fish
• Was there for 3 days
  Survived the ordeal

I think that we also should believe it, therefore (from my admittedly limited research and knowledge about huge fish) I’ve come to the conclusion that surviving the ordeal was in equally impressive miracle on God’s behalf to providing the fish to swallow Jonah and then vomiting him onto dry land. And therefore, this story can be one of encouragement and hope to us today.

Whilst today in our lives we're not likely to be swallowed by a giant fish, we're are likely to be in places that really pretty tough. Places where we get to rock bottom, and can't see any favourable way out (let's be honest being vomited onto a beach isn't great but is considerably better than the other option), places where we can't see a way of surviving let alone thriving.

If God stepped into to prevent Jonah from dying, he can step into the situations we find ourselves in today and will help us survive. As Christians we should expect life to get tough in places, and therefore when survival seems challenging remember these words of Jesus from John 16:33:

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

We believe in a God who has immense powers, who can control the natural world. But that same God came to this earth and went through suffering greater than we can imagine by dying on a cross. So when we go through suffering we can cry out to a God who understands and goes through our suffering with us, and we can take hope that Jesus has beaten death and will one day return in glory.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Loving God with a sinner's heart

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:36-50

I don’t know about you, but that passage really challenges me. Why? Because I think, I can often be like Simon the Pharisee. I obey “the law”, I live a “good life” and even better, I’m Jesus friend. But I’m keen to forget the fact that by obeying the law, I often become legalistic in my lifestyle, that I only have a good life not a perfect one, and that Jesus is my friend because he was first my Saviour. But, that selective forgetfulness is an issue. By forgetting that Jesus Christ is my Saviour, I often feel I can start to love him less, because I also forget just how desperately I need him in my life.

By forgetting about my sinful life and by rationalising the sin in my life as only natural, I end up editing myself. I present myself to God as a better version, which is an issue in itself. But when I do that, I also reduce the debt that I perceive to owe God, and so like in Jesus’s parable my love for God decreases. Like Simon, I only love God a little. I don’t offer to wash his feet, or anoint his head with oil, or even give him a kiss. By rationalising the sin in my life, I no longer perceive my need for my Saviour Jesus Christ and become content with Jesus my friend.

In contrast, the sinful woman is fully aware of her sin, and by her very awareness of her own shortcomings, she enters Jesus’s presence with a much greater attitude of love. Yes, the expensive perfume that she poured on Jesus’s head would have probably been bought using the money gained through prostitution, but she is honouring and worshipping God where she is at.

Whilst we shouldn’t be living lives that embrace sin, we can (and should) as this passage shows celebrate and worship Jesus for coming to and dying for us in order to save us from ourselves. Regardless of our sin, whether we perceive it to be big or small, we need to be worshipping God because of what he’s done for us. I think it’s important to remember that we’re never going to be perfect enough to worship God on our own, because for God: sin is sin. There is no hierarchy, it’s just sin. The only way we can come to God, is through the purifying blood of Jesus.

So like the sinful woman, let’s get honest with God, acknowledge not justify our sin, and love him more because of our need for him.

When we’re struggling with our sin, let’s cry out in our desperation, asking him to come into the situation, rather than push him further away because of what we’ve done.

And in doing so, let’s worship God with all of our life, repent of our sin and embrace our Saviour showering him with our love from the bottom of our hearts because we know how much we desperately need him.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)